Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-04-22

look stole into her sweet eyes. o,
he does not. feel something lacking
in the letter. l will not wear thegera.
MUM leaf, but. will tell him why. l
will write to him-that will be best. ;"
So when Mr.. Foster called a shy
little figure met him in the hall and
put q letter into: his hand, and then
ran up stairs before any one saw her.
n Completely mystifed, his hand,
closed over the note, and then he en-
tered the sitting.room. Cora, Annie,
Will, and Belle were all there, and at
once they plunged into a merry chat;
but, though Allison joined in it, his
thoughts were with Eva, and he wish
ed she would enter. -
She came in at last, and she wore
no geranium leaf in her hair, as the
girls saw at glance. Annie looked
significantly at Belle, and Cora rather
enjoyed her friend s discontinue also.
Allison saw nothing of this. for he was
shaking hands with Eva, holding her
hand q little longer than was strictly
necessary, it seemed to Belle, while he
looked into her face with new feeling
in his own. Eva smiled and dropped
her eyes shyly.
Music; light tones, good night! and
Allison was in his own room, ano
tearing open the letter.
DEAR MIR. FOSTER tit ran)-I was, as
you faucied I should be, much surprised at
receiving your letter, particularly as you
have never given me any reason to think
you loved me. think that you are mis-
taken now. I have heard that people
sometimes deceive themselves by thinking
they feel more kindly than they do, and it
seems as if you must be thus mistaken in
the measure OF your regard for me. / am
quite sure, dear Mr.. Foster, that if you
really loved me my heart would tell me So.
Ibid not wear the geranium leaf FOR this rea-
son. Sincerely your friend. EVA ATWOOD"
The sweet girls secret was plainly
told in this letter; also her unerring
insight, which would not let her be de.
ceived.
Allison was keen and shrewd. He
saw at glance that some trick had
been played upon the unsuspecting
girl; but whom to mistrust, unless Will
Chester, he did not know.
The next day he happened to meet
Eva returning from the village alone.
A tide Of crimson overswept his Own
face as we'll as hers.
"Miss Atwood, will you let me see
the letter wrote your" he asked.
"Certainly," she replied, but with a
surprised look.
Belle had said she wrote nearly
enough like Mr.. Foster to deceive Eva,
but she could not thus deceive the
young man himself. Furthermore,
having received several notes from
Belle, he knew her writing Immediate
ly.
''1s there anything wrong about it?"
asked Eva, timidly, seeing his stem
look.
"No, except that it was unsuccess-
ful," he replied, determined that she
should never know how she had been
deceived. He raised his hat and pass
ed on, comparing in his mind
the beautiful, guileless face Of
Eva with the proud look OF Belle.
His love for the latter was swept to
the winds by his knowledge that she
had perpetrated this cruel hoax upon
her cousin.
II wonder If I was Mistaken"
thought Eva, as she walked on. HE
looked almost as if he cared"
''She loves ME, feel sure, by her
letter." said he to himself, and glad
warmth stole into his heart at the
thought.
After this, Mr.. Fosters visits plain
~ were to Eva, and in few months
he asked her to marry him, and this
time she did not refuse.
Belle bitterly regretted her folly
when she learned OF her engagement,
for somehow she felt that her con-
duct had helped it forward. 81 was
the April Fool, not Eva, she said but
she bore the disappointment in
naughty silence, and Annie and Cora
forbore to mention her April joke,
and to this day Eva knows nothing
about it.